


Keep You Safe And Warm

by Iron_Eirlyssa (Eirlyssa)



Series: Eirlyssa's 2020 Bingo Fills [6]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Developing Relationship, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Protective Bucky Barnes, Sunset Bain/Tony Stark - Freeform, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, WinterIron Month, bucky barnes is a sweetheart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:40:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23029483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eirlyssa/pseuds/Iron_Eirlyssa
Summary: When Tony comes to see Bucky, it's easy to tell that something isverywrong.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Series: Eirlyssa's 2020 Bingo Fills [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1599220
Comments: 6
Kudos: 404
Collections: Tony Stark Bingo 2020, WinterIron Month 2021





	Keep You Safe And Warm

**Author's Note:**

> A fill for the WinterIron Month for SFW Thursday: Dialogue/Sentence - “Where did that bruise come from?” and my Tony Stark Bingo, square A3: Free space (card 3022).

Bucky could feel the muscles in his jaw clench as he looked down at Tony, who couldn’t meet his eyes.

“Where did that bruise come from?” His voice was soft with barely restrained anger, _lethal_ , and it was all he could do not to snap and go out there and _find_ the bastard who’d done this to Tony.

"It's not important," Tony mumbled, shoulders pulling up a little. Bucky wasn't sure if it was a half-hearted shrug or a defensive movement.

“Tony, _no_.” It took him a lot of effort to keep his voice calm, but he didn’t want to scare Tony off. Not when it looked like someone had hit him hard enough to open up a cut on his cheekbone, not when all Bucky wanted to do was bundle him up into a blanket and make sure no one would _ever_ hurt him again. “It _is_ important. _You_ are important.”

Somehow, that made Tony curl up into himself even more, and Bucky would _kill_ whoever had made him feel this way.

“I just… It was my own fault.” As much as he really, _really_ wanted to believe that meant there’d been a silly accident in the lab somehow, all the signs indicated this was something _more_. Something done by a _person_ , who had then made _Tony_ feel guilty for it instead of owning up and sincerely apologizing.

Gently, he raised a hand toward Tony’s face. He was cautious, making sure to keep his movements slow, and something eased ever-so-slightly inside him when Tony allowed his touch without flinching.

He tilted Tony’s head up gingerly, revealing the full extent of the bruise. A cold rage coursed through him. “Tony…” Still, his friend continued to look at the ground, his shame obvious. “Who did this to you?” There was no way he could conceal his anger, no way he could pretend like he wasn’t ready to go hunt down whoever had done this. But he hoped Tony knew none of those feelings were directed at him, because Bucky _never_ wanted to do a single thing to hurt him.

And apparently, Tony _did_ know that, because he finally looked up and met Bucky’s eyes. His golden brown eyes, usually so bright and vibrant and _alive_ , were filled with tears. “I just…” And then he started crying.

Bucky gathered him close, maneuvering both of them to the couch. Tony was practically on his lap as he cried, and it was almost easy to push his fury to the background as he tried to comfort his friend. “There you go,” he murmured soothingly, rocking back and forth gently. “It’s alright, I’ve got you.”

Keeping up the soothing litany, Bucky waited patiently for Tony to calm down again. It was very clear he’d been needing this, and probably not just because of what had just happened, either. He’d been spending most of his time in his lab since he’d gotten the news that Edwin Jarvis had died, and Bucky sincerely doubted he’d properly grieved the man that, by all accounts, had practically raised him.

When Tony’s breaths evened out a little more, it became obvious that he probably hadn’t been sleeping a lot, either. He looked utterly exhausted, with dark circles around red-rimmed eyes.

It probably contributed to his honesty, because usually he probably would have said whatever it took for Bucky to ignore the still-darkening bruise. Instead he spoke up, sounding utterly desolate. “I’ve just been spending a lot of time in my lab lately, working on - well, working on something important. And Sunset… I’ve been neglecting her.”

Closing his eyes, Bucky focused on keeping his breathing steady.

“She was… angry. Hurt. And we got into an argument. It was my fault, really - I haven’t been a very good boyfriend lately…”

“You’ve been _mourning_.” His voice was gratifyingly more calm and even than he’d thought he would be able to manage. Bucky hadn’t liked Sunset Bain or her relationship with Tony, but he’d had to admit that it might just be his jealousy - she’d _seemed_ nice enough, after all. “This was _not_ your fault.”

"Then _why_?" Tony asked, sounding utterly lost, and Bucky _ached_ for him. "Why does it _keep_ happening?"

Tightening his hug just a little, Bucky tried to think of a good answer to that. It wasn’t just Sunset, after all - and he wondered how often she had done something similar, or if this was the first time and Tony was just far too used to taking the blame for other people hurting him. Because as careful as he’d been in hiding it, all of Tony’s closest friends were aware of the fact that Howard’s so-called parenting had been emotionally abusive at the least, and probably had escalated to physical abuse more than once.

It had been a relationship dynamic that Tony fell back into more often than not, which wasn’t helped by the fact that he loved so very easily and there were so many people who would take advantage of that. So many people who wanted to take advantage of _him_.

“Because they’re _bad_ , and you’ve had some _terrible_ luck.”

“I just… What is it that makes me so _hard_ to love, to care about?”

Bucky swallowed. This was _not_ the moment to bring up his romantic feelings for Tony, no matter how much he wanted to. Right now, that would probably do nothing except overwhelm him even more.

Instead, he stroked a hand through Tony’s hair, closing his eyes when he felt Tony nuzzle closer into his shoulder. “You’re _not_ ,” he told him gently. “You’ve had some bad luck for sure, but there’s also loads of us who care about you, who respect you, and who want to see you happy and healthy and _not hurt_. You’ve got Rhodey, and Pepper, and Steve, and Nat, and Bruce, and Clint, and Sam… We all just want you to be okay.”

Some sort of tension seemed to leave Tony’s body at that as he practically melted fully into Bucky’s chest. “ _Thank you_.” There was something very tragic about how utterly _grateful_ he sounded for being reminded of that.

Clearly, Bucky thought, despite caring about him, they didn’t quite make that clear enough for someone who was so used to people only _claiming_ to care.

It was one of the things he was determined they would change. The other was the fact that Sunset Bain was going _down_.

They might never quite be able to explain why - Bucky was not unaware of the stigma that existed about female-on-male abuse in relationships, or the way people who didn’t know him thought about Tony - and he sure as hell wouldn’t be able to kick her ass the way he wanted to without everyone siding with her as a victim, but he figured setting Pepper and Natasha on her would probably be more of a punishment anyway.

For now, he’d make sure to take care of Tony, and to be there for him in whatever way he could be.

As Tony started falling asleep, Bucky moved him slightly so he’d be more comfortable. And although he huffed a little at the movement, Tony allowed himself to be moved without a complaint.

“Don’t worry,” Bucky murmured affectionately, “you’re safe with me.”

The drowsily mumbled “I know” made his heart skip a beat, and he knew the look on his face must be unbearably sappy.

He was _so_ done for.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it, and feel free to come say 'hi' on my [Tumblr](https://eirlyssa.tumblr.com/) as well.


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